7 Killed in Mosque in Pakistan

Mark Moon/January 17, 2008/11:34 pm/Current Event 1/ethnic conflict

At a Shiite mosque in northwest Pakistan, a suicide bomber opened fire and then detonated himself in the midst of a large gathering of Shiite Muslims celebrating the Ashoura Festival. The bomber is believed to belong to a Sunni terrorist group operating throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan. Shiite Muslims are the minority in Pakistan, with Sunnis outnumbering them by a 4:1 ratio. This time of year is often marked with violence between the two groups. The Ashoura Festival celebrates the death of the prophet Mohammad's grandson and the resulting split between Sunnis and Shiites. Both Sunni and Shiite extremist groups are blamed for attacks this time of year, though most of the 160 million followers peacefully coexist. In 2005, a Sunni blast killed 50 Shiite followers at a shrine is southwest Pakistan.

Typically when I think of Sunni-Shiite conflicts, my mind immediately points to Iraq or Afghanistan. It seems that the Sunni-Shiite conflict rages throughout the entire region as extremist groups from each side lash out at the other. It is unfortunate that the groups fail to limit their attacks to each other and instead target large gatherings of civilian worshippers. President Pervez Musharaff described the suicide attackers as "mad" and "misguided into thinking they were serving Islam." While I agree with the President's statement, is it conceited to think we can say "That serves Islam, but that doesn't"? In their minds, I'm sure blowing themselves up and killing their "opposition" makes perfect sense - at least I hope it would. It would be a bit perplexing if this was done on a wispy, half thought-out idea.

Infringement on the rights of others is nothing new in ethnic/religious conflicts such as this. The Crusades of the middle ages pitted Christians against Muslims in the Holy Land of Jerusalem. Christians were doing their duty in the Crusades - they were reclaiming Jerusalem while killing off the Muslims that held the area. In their minds, they were serving their faith. In the same right, the Sunni and Shiite ethnicities lay claims to being the proper way to serve their faith and do so by detonating themselves in the midst of Sunni or Shiite gatherings.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/ats-ap_intl10jan17,1,4047501.story?coll=sns-ap-topinternational&ctrack=1&cset=true